Canadian Beaver Taint Steps on Free Speech in Lower 48

Canadian Attack on U.S. Free Speech — an Unwelcome Export

Canada,
the great white north — land of Mounties, lumberjacks, double-doubles,
twofers, toques and universal healthcare. Nice people, one and all, eh?
Not so much anymore. At least not their corporations — specifically, in the oilpatch.
A few Canuck corporate hosers are spoiling their nations’
pure-as-the-driven-snow reputation by suing its citizenry left and
right, and they are spreading the litigious beaver taint to their
neighbor to the south. As Democracy Tree reported last month, TransCanada sued some Texas environmental activists into silence, but that’s just the tip the iceberg.
Canada has traditionally enjoyed broad free speech protections under their constitutional Charter — Section 2(b) states that “Everyone
has the following fundamental freedoms: … freedom of thought, belief,
opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media
of communication.” Canadian courts have a long history of upholding these rights and consistently supporting expression over controls.
But in April of last year, the Canadian Supreme Court approved
Ontario Corporations’ ability to file cross-border defamation lawsuits,
which are frequently SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation)
meant to silence dissent and activism through unending legal harassment
and intimidation. The Canadian oil industry has a long history of
SLAPPing activists, and now they can ship more than just their oil
around the world– they can export legal terrorism as well. In the wake
of a dramatic increase in the use of this tactic, the Ontario government
convened a group of legal experts to form an Anti-SLAPP Advisory Panel whose efforts help provide some domestic protections and remedies.
As recently reported in AlertNet, these corporate bullies have found a new way to harass activist organizations within their borders. Late last year, Ethical Oil.org,
a lobby group for oil sands development demanded the Canada Revenue
Agency (equivalent to the IRS) investigate alleged tax code violations
of various non-profit environmental agencies, included among them are
the Canadian Sierra Club, Tides Canada, Environmental Defense and the
David Suzuki Foundation. Repeated threats of tax audits would not be
covered under anti-SLAPP policies.
It’s only a matter of time before these corporations try making
similar claims in the U.S., and elsewhere, about the tax exempt status
of environmental non-profits. The IRS has traditionally been reluctant
to pull tax exempt status from churches that blatantly engage in
political speech, so let’s hope they have the good sense to say
“take-off, you hoser!” to these Canadian bullies.Amy Kerr Hardin This article also appears in Voters Legislative Transparency Project

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.Benjamin FranklinOne has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.Martin Luther King

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."Abraham Lincoln

“If tyranny and oppression come to this land it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”James Madison